Competition intensifies in race to be next Oxford university chancellor

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The race to become the next chancellor of the University of Oxford is set to be the most competitive ever, with former Tory ministers David Willetts and Dominic Grieve joining the more than 30 candidates who have expressed interest in the prestigious role.

Tens of thousands of faculty and former students are expected to vote in the election next month, being conducted online for the first time, as funding pressures worsen for UK universities.

Labour peers Peter Mandelson and Janet Royall, who is also principal of Somerville College in Oxford, and former Conservative ministers including William Hague, Willetts and Grieve are among the leading public figures who submitted their applications last month.

Lady Elish Angiolini, Principal of St Hugh’s College in Oxford, and Imran Khan, the currently imprisoned former prime minister of Pakistan, are also standing in the election.

Voting begins on October 28, with a second round for the top five candidates in mid November if at least 10 stand.

Previous requirements for candidates to have 50 nominations and be screened by a university committee were dropped after criticisms of elitism — people can now nominate themselves. Candidates do not have to be Oxford alumni, although the leading contenders all studied or taught at the university.

The chancellor, the titular head of the university sometimes described as a “constitutional monarch”, has no executive authority or salary but plays an important role in fundraising, presiding over formal ceremonies and chairing the committee that selects future vice-chancellors, the chief executive of the university.

Current chancellor Chris Patten, the former Conservative MP and governor of Hong Kong, is retiring after 21 years. He said he was the first Oxford chancellor not to die in office since James Butler, the second Duke of Ormonde, a Jacobite who fled for France in 1715 after being impeached for treason. Following rule changes the next chancellor will be limited to ten years in office.

Patten had just two rivals when he was elected in 2003 and said that after “a golden era” for the university, his successor would face “a very difficult few years unless the government undertakes root and branch reform” to higher education with substantial government support for research and tuition.

“I don’t think you can call the role honorific,” he told the FT, while stressing that it should not have more executive power. “There is only one head of government, the vice-chancellor.” He said that “what matters is not whether you are a right-wing or left-wing chancellor but a good one for Oxford who understands it and works hard for it not yourself.”

Willetts, a former universities minister who is involved in multiple higher education initiatives, warned of threats to Oxford’s “funding, its autonomy and its research excellence” and said if he was elected he would encourage other universities to adopt its renowned tutorial system.

Willetts said the next chancellor should be “a bit more outward looking, helping to ensure Oxford’s presence internationally” and stressed the importance of building up the university’s endowment. “This isn’t floating along in an honorary position enjoying dinners.”

Grieve, who was attorney-general in David Cameron’s government, said he was encouraged to apply by a number of people and “on reflection I thought it’s something I would do well”. Grieve said he saw the job as one of being an advocate for the university at home and abroad and providing support for the university rather than setting its policies.

Mandelson, who is stepping down as chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University, told the FT in July: “I do feel passionately about universities and given I studied at Oxford it’s an important place to me.”